Dakota Ditcheva is more than prepared to keep proving the doubters wrong, as she takes one step closer to the 2024 PFL Finals.
The 2023 PFL Europe Women’s Flyweight champion joined Ariel Helwani on yesterday’s episode of The MMA Hour following her victory at the weekend against Chelsea Hackett in the second round of the 2024 PFL Regular Season and earned her one of the four spots up for grabs in the Playoffs.
The Hackett bout saw Ditcheva claim her first co-main event spot on an American based PFL show, with the Manchester native making the most of the opportunity and stopping Hackett with brutal body shots in the very first round. Ditcheva reflected on the night and expressed her delight at managing to add yet another vicious stoppage to her record. She said:
“I was co-main event, so I think that was a big thing for me as well. I didn't feel pressure, like, I needed to get a stoppage or anything but at the same time, I kind of put that on myself because I wanted to make a statement and it's not often you get an opportunity to go co-main event on shows, and I feel like they are times that you can't really waste the opportunity.
“You're going to make a statement and be able to have a highlight reel at them points because that's kind of what's going to push you. So that was kind of a pressure for me as well. I think I just wanted to make it make a statement being co-main event.”
The rising star finished top of the table, securing the number one seed after the Regular season wrapped up and booking her spot in the Playoffs against Jena Bishop whilst Taila Santos and Liz Carmouche meet on the other side of the bracket. There has been a lot made of whether or not Ditcheva will be able to deal with the lies of a Santos or Carmouche and the Manchester native struggles to see how and why people are questioning her capabilities.
“I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised. People have said, now she has done the first two rounds, she'll face one of them and we'll see whether she's good. I feel like, am I not showing that I'm on their level? I feel like people are not disrespecting me, but like I feel like I'm showing that I could fight with them.~
“I didn't feel like they showed anything that I didn't the other night, you know? So I feel like, why are people saying like, I'm going to fall on this next round or something? Like, I'm going to give it a good fight. I feel like I'm stepping up on their level so I don’t know why people are talking about it like that, but I like to prove them wrong anyway and I'll keep doing that in my performances.”
The 25-year-old feels like even if she does compete against one of the aforementioned semi-finalists on the other side of the bracket, the doubters will still question the level of opponent she has faced. She continued:
“I wouldn't be surprised if people say the same thing when I beat these next. They'll probably still say that I haven’t fought anybody, you know, because they won't want to accept the fact that I am on their skill level, I feel like.
"So we'll see and I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and we'll find out that way."
You can watch the full interview below:
